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One would naturally think it impossible that anyone would hesitate – even for an instant – to honor the woman who tackled communism head on as prime minister of Great Britain. Lady Margaret Thatcher was a principled politician who helped to foster the special relationship between Great Britain and the United States that we all benefit from today. A Senate resolution to honor Lady Thatcher was supposed to pass last night. However, per well placed sources on the Hill, Democrats have a hold on the resolution. To refuse to honor a woman of such great historical and political significance, who...

Margaret Thatcher not only broke a glass ceiling; she broke a class ceiling. Today we say goodbye to a towering figure of the 20th century. With the passing of Margaret Thatcher, we’ve sadly lost the last living member of that great triumvirate that included Ronald Reagan and John Paul II — those giants who defeated the evil empire of Soviet Communism and allowed the liberation of its captive nations. We’ve also lost one of the great champions of economic freedom and democratic ideals. Many will focus on the fact that Margaret Thatcher’s career was a collection of “firsts” for women...

Former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has left hospital after having a growth removed from her bladder, sources have told the BBC. She is said to be “doing well” after a minor operation to remove the growth. The 87-year-old, who has suffered from ill health in recent years, was admitted last week and is thought to have left hospital on Friday. The BBC’s Norman Smith says Baroness Thatcher is understood to be “convalescing privately”. …

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the country’s first woman elective leader, is in hospital recovering from surgery to remove a growth on her bladder, a source close to the family said on Friday. After experiencing pain in her bladder earlier in the week, he 87-year-old went to hospital where she underwent a minimally invasive operation, Tim Bell, a public relations executive who once served as image maker to Thatcher, said. …

The euro crisis seems to vindicate her skepticism, and with serendipitous timing, she's on the big screen in a biopic, played by Meryl Streep. A British Prime Minister, splendidly isolated, faces down a phalanx of scowling European leaders, all harrumphing censure in accents that are German, French, Italian. We've witnessed the scene before. Decades ago Margaret Thatcher warred with her European counterparts just as David Cameron did this month in refusing to yield control of national budgets to Brussels. The difference is that the Iron Lady did not speak softly when she wielded a big stick. She lambasted ambitious bureaucrats;...

In what amounts to Baroness Thatcher’s final and irrevocable withdrawal from public life, the former prime minister’s office in the House of Lords has been closed down.. Her son, Sir Mark Thatcher, told me that the office had “served its purpose.” In its latter years, it had only one full-time employee in Mark Worthington, who had dutifully dealt with Lady Thatcher’s affairs for the past 20 years, but, as her health had declined, so, too, did her public engagements. “Space is in desperately short supply at the Palace of Westminster, and the feeling was, in all honesty, we simply couldn’t...

Newly released documents from Margaret Thatcher's first year in office reveal her widespread distrust of the Establishment - especially the BBC - and her growing impatience with the Carter administration Margaret Thatcher with President Jimmy Carter in December 1979. Months earlier, he had congratulated her cooly on her election, calling it a 'tremendous personal victory for you' "Would you accept the Republican nomination for President in 1980?" Margaret Thatcher was asked at a Foreign Policy Association lunch in New York December 18, 1979. The scribbled note, from an anonymous doting American, is just one of many documents released last week...

(I suspect most Freepers will be happy to see photos of Lady Thatcher still being able to enjoy the company of old colleagues and young admirers. This is from a British blog by the historian and blogger Helen Szamuley. The Bruges Group is a think-tank that has taken its name from Margaret Thatcher's famous Bruges speech in September 1988, in which she remarked that, "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level". /SB) Well, OK, these pictures are not the greatest, mobiles being fairly useful as...

Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher returned to 10 Downing Street to attend the unveiling of her portrait. Dressed in a long royal-blue jacket, Baroness Thatcher was greeted on the steps of her former residence by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah. Mr Brown shook hands with Lady Thatcher, who paused for photographs outside the famous door of No 10 but said nothing to waiting reporters. As Lady Thatcher stood outside the door to Number 10, clasping her trademark handbag, some reporters called out "Is it good to be home?" and "Are you pleased to be back?" Lady Thatcher's...

Lady Thatcher faces several more days in hospital after an operation on her broken arm. Her son Sir Mark visited her today and said she had had a good night but would be likely to remain in London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital longer than expected. Sir Mark said yesterday that Lady Thatcher, 83, was likely to remain in hospital until at least Wednesday. Today he revised that estimate to say it was likely to be longer before she is allowed home. A spokesman for Lady Thatcher described her condition as "comfortable" and said she was resting today. The operation inserted...

Tory grandees gathered to honour the 30th anniversary of Lady Thatcher’s historic election victory last night as David Cameron said the next Conservative administration would seek to emulate the way she rescued Britain from a failing Labour government. The Tory leader, who was unable to attend the event, paid tribute to Britain’s greatest postwar leader as more than 270 guests gathered at the Carlton Club in London's St James's Street, for the biggest dinner the Club has hosted in more than two decades. Golden lady: Baroness Margaret Thatcher leaves the Carlton Club in London following the party to celebrate the...

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the running mate chosen by Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, has addressed the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minnesota. Below is the full text of her speech. ...

<p>Lady Thatcher to be honoured with State funeral, but Palace fears there might not be enough troops to line streets of London Margaret Thatcher is to be given the ultimate accolade of a State funeral when she reaches the end of her days – the first British Prime Minister since Winston Churchill to be afforded such an honour.</p>

Baroness Thatcher has been released from hospital this afternoon after she was admitted overnight for precautionary tests. The former Prime Minister smiled and waved as she walked out of St Thomas's Hospital in central London, where she was taken after falling ill last night. The 82-year-old had been dining with friends in the Lords when she started feeling "slightly nauseous and faint", her private secretary, Mark Worthington, said. "Her legs gave way a little bit under her," he said, adding that she had not fainted. "We thought it safest to be sure about these things." A close friend said: "She...

LATEST: Fomer PM Baroness Thatcher taken to hospital for precautionary tests. More soon_

Thatcher urges Brown to allow EU treaty referendumLady Thatcher today urged Gordon Brown to allow a referendum on the EU Treaty. "This Treaty matters Prime Minister, so be bold and let the British people have the final say!" The former Prime Minister backed the newspaper campaigns for a referendum, saying: "Yet again the British people are being told that the changes in the Treaty are not important, that they are technical, and that in any case we have either blocked or gained opt-outs in all the worst cases. Well we've heard it all before only to see more and more...

Brown: I want Lady Thatcher portrait to hang in No 10The row surrounding Margaret Thatcher's Downing Street meeting with Gordon Brown has intensified after it was revealed she has accepted his offer to commission a painting of her and for it to go on permanent display in No10. The latest evidence of the extraordinary harmony between the two is likely to cause further controversy on both the Labour and Tory benches. A bitter rift is said to exist between Lady Thatcher and David Cameron. Conservative sources claimed she had no qualms about having tea with Mr Brown partly because the...

Thatcher's snub to CameronMargaret Thatcher dealt a devastating snub to David Cameron by asking for TV cameras to record her meeting with Gordon Brown. The Downing Street visit was originally intended to be unpublicised with her smuggled in by the back door. The Prime Minister was happy to go along with that... but 48 hours before Thursday's visit the former Premier's aide called to say she now wanted the meeting to be in the full glare of the cameras. The astonishing U-turn by the woman famed for "handbagging" foes was intended to cause maximum embarrassment for Cameron, who she believes...

Thatcher denies being exploited by Brown's 'political stunt'Margaret Thatcher yesterday poured scorn on Tory Party claims that she was exploited by Gordon Brown. The former premier gave a dressing down to one of David Cameron's frontbenchers who accused Mr Brown of taking advantage of an 'elderly, lonely and frail' old lady by inviting her to No. 10. Friends say Lady Thatcher was infuriated by Rob Wilson's claims that she was the victim of a political 'stunt' after she called in for the private talks and met the Labour leader's family on Thursday. "The idea that she was being exploited is...